


nobody else will be there then

by sandyk



Category: Timeless (TV 2016)
Genre: F/M, set circa s1
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-03
Updated: 2018-07-03
Packaged: 2019-06-01 15:03:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,212
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15145724
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sandyk/pseuds/sandyk
Summary: Future Jiya said, "I bet this is surprising. I bet you're thinking, hey, you can't go back to a time when you're already alive."





	nobody else will be there then

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Karios](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Karios/gifts).



> title from the national's nobody else will be there. not mine, no profit garnered. thanks to A!

Jiya lived in Oakland, so she took the BART every morning and evening, back and forth. She went to yoga in Oakland, always, because East Bay yoga was a much more chill experience than SF yoga. And she was never the only person who wasn't white. 

In Oakland, Jiya could afford a pretty nice apartment. She loved her apartment. 

It used to be surreal, what Jiya thought then was surreal, going back and forth under the bay, holding onto the strap, and she was helping to build a time machine. She was helping to build a time machine that worked. 

Now she drove to work since there were emergencies and she was summoned at all hours. Garcia Flynn did not respect the BART schedule, he kept taking the Mothership when there was no service or when she had no chance to get to work in under an hour. Sometimes Jiya thought about presenting the turd with her gas and parking bills. 

Jiya and Rufus were finally actually dating with actual sex and actual hanging out and talking times. So tonight she was in yoga, then back to her apartment and then video games and sex. It was a nice life, even with every single damn disaster happening all around them. 

She closed her eyes and did her deep breathing as she laid on her mat. Things were going to be okay. 

Then she drove home and sat on her couch and things got way more surreal. Someone used a key on her door, and walked right in. "Jiya?"

Jiya was boggled. Big eyes, stuttering words, the whole cartoon character exaggerated reaction face. It seemed appropriate since she was looking at herself. Future Jiya looked a few years older, maybe more. It was hard to estimate because Future Jiya also looked gaunt and depressed. 

Future Jiya said, "I bet this is surprising. I bet you're thinking, hey, you can't go back to a time when you're already alive."

"I guess we figured that out, huh?"

"Clearly," Future Jiya said. "Sorry, I don't mean to snap."

"No, it's okay," Jiya said. She was still boggled. "I guess you're here to tell me something."

"Yup," Future Jiya said. "I need you, look, when Connor starts training you to be a pilot: take it slow. Don't rush to be good at it. Or work too hard. And no matter what happens, no matter what you think could happen, don't get on the lifeboat with three other passengers."

"Well, yeah," Jiya said. "But oh. Okay. Are you going to fade away once I really agree to that?"

"I don't think so," Future Jiya said.

"Isn't that how it should work, though? You went on the boat when there were only three seats and they were all filled. You couldn't warn me not to something you hadn't already done. So when I don't do it, you'll be gone. If not sooner," Jiya said. "I'm sorry."

"Time, okay, it's an unstoppable forward flow but it's also happening all at once. Everything is happening at all times," Future Jiya said. "I don't know, maybe as I soon as I close the door and leave here I just go poof. Don't watch, that would be creepy."

"You're okay just wiping yourself out? This is that important?" All of Jiya's calm was gone. She wondered what the hell would happen to her if she got on the lifeboat. How bad would it be?

"It really is that important," Future Jiya said.

"Okay," Jiya said. "Anything else I should work on? Or know?"

"Not that I think I can tell you," Future Jiya said. She made a face and Jiya thought, oh, that's what I look like when I feel that way. "But I don't know. No one came back in my past, we've done this a few times, but. We're doing it now. It's hard finding the right pressure points. That's not actually the right word. But, um, actually. Actually." Future Jiya grabbed Jiya's notepad from the table. "Here's some hints for the fourth seat problem. Show it to Rufus, you two can work it out."

"Should I tell him about your visit? No, you have no idea," Jiya said. "I probably should."

"I don't know. He'll eventually come around to the idea of a power greater than he understands at work in our world, but. I guess try it? Whatever it takes for you not to get on the Lifeboat." Future Jiya scratched at a scar on her neck Jiya didn't have and then shrugged. "I should go now."

"Thanks," Jiya said. "I hope, have a -- Goodbye," she said. 

She didn't even look out the peephole when Future Jiya left. She was still standing, clutching the notepad when Rufus showed up. 

He said, "What's wrong?"

"Me from the future came to visit me --"

"Me too," Rufus said. His eyes were really wide, too. "I wasn't going to tell you. But now you're telling me yours. You first."

Jiya laughed. "Okay. She said take pilot training super slow and don't get on the lifeboat as the fourth passenger. And she gave me notes - I guess you and I install a fourth seat at some point the future?"

"Okay, wow. Future me told me that Al Capone was going to shoot me. And if it wasn't Al Capone, it would be someone else. That Flynn would tell to shoot me. And you should not learn to be a pilot," Rufus said. 

"I would be a good pilot," Jiya said.

"You'd be a great pilot," Rufus said. "But there are forces, evil forces at work. There are things happening."

"Oh, that's super clear. Did Future You give you any other hints?" She idly scratched her neck and realized it was in the same place where the scar would be. It didn't mean anything, she thought. Things didn't echo backwards, they only went forwards. 

"He had a whole list of things to avoid. I guess I die or nearly die more than once," Rufus said. "No hints about the fourth seat. We should work on that. And I do think you'd be great pilot, but I hope you understand right now, sometimes I'm only alive, my family is only safe because I'm the only pilot around." He looked very desperate. 

"You have a lot of things you need to be telling me. Right now," Jiya said. "I need to know about evil forces and people threatening your family."

Rufus sighed and sat down behind her. "Frankly, it would be a relief."

"Okay, good." She sat down next to him and felt at least parts of her body relax. "Do you think Future Jiya and Future Rufus have disappeared?"

"Do I think they destroyed their timeline by coming back to tell us?" Rufus stared past her. "Probably."

"That sucks," Jiya said. "Poor things."

"They thought it was worth it, so let's trust all their bad experiences," Rufus said. 

She thought about Rufus saying he'd died, or nearly died and the gaunt look Future Jiya had. "Poor Future Us. We'll do it better. I bet we didn't have this talk about evil forces in their past. Because it's important for me to know about evil forces."

Rufus nodded. He was looking at her now. "I absolutely agree."


End file.
